There was light in the sky, but it was still dark between heaven and earth.
Han Xu opened the door and walked out. A young man immediately stood over from the wall.
"Do you want to go out, sir?" he asked.
This young man was not his servant. Han Xu only brought four servants with him when he came out of the capital. A few days ago, he took a group of people to the nearest city. On the way, he encountered rebels. In order to protect the refugees, all four servants were killed.
He was about to be killed, but this young man jumped out from among the refugees, killed the nearest rebel, snatched the rebel's horse, and then pulled him up and ran away with him.
This young man had excellent riding skills and managed to escape from the rebels with one person.
He called himself Zhongli and was a ranger. He was rejected by his family and villagers in the south. He wanted to come to the north to make some achievements, but he unexpectedly fell into a rebellion.
"I used to boast about my martial arts skills, but now I know that my martial arts skills cannot defeat the rebels or save the people." Nakazato laughed at himself.
Han Xu kept him by his side, and thanks to him he was able to get here safely through layers of rebels.
The situation here is still not very good. Zhongli guards the door day and night and only sleeps standing up.
Han Xu knew that he couldn't be persuaded, so he didn't say anything and asked him to rest, but nodded.
The two of them walked out of the house one after another, and two tall and thin shadows appeared on the dim street. Looking at the shadow alone, Han Xu was almost the same as Zhongli. Although he was already in his forties, he was tall, slender, and well-mannered. He was a handsome man.
.
When he was attending a palace banquet in the capital, he learned that his wife had died early and had never remarried. Many female relatives were spying on him, and the extravagant women in the world became bolder. After a palace banquet, silk sachets would always be secretly stuffed into him.
The most dangerous thing was that a wealthy widow took advantage of him drinking too much to frame him and get him married unless he got married. Luo Shi hated his innocence and added fuel to the flames. The emperor was bewitched by the Luo family siblings to grant a marriage. Fortunately, Cui Zheng intervened to dissuade him and asked him in a few words in front of the emperor.
The matter was dropped after the widow told the truth.
Afterwards, Cui Zheng concealed it for him, allowing him to serve as an official in the court with peace of mind. Therefore, he was regarded as a member of Cui Zheng's party.
Han Xu didn't know why he thought of such a thing at this time. Maybe he heard that the emperor was dead and the capital was empty. News came that the capital was in chaos day and night. Countless people fled with their families and their families. The emperor's relatives, powerful concubines, concubines, and maids
The eunuchs were crowded together with ordinary people. Those with cars rode in cars and walked without cars. The road was full of shoes...
The extravagance and absurdity that once disgusted him disappeared overnight.
As Han Xu walked, many footsteps sounded on the street, and figures emerged from both sides in the darkness. The city seemed to be stirring like a giant insect waking up. The night faded in an instant, and the morning light illuminated the city.
This city is not deserted; the streets are full of people walking around.
They were either carrying wood or stones on their backs, or carrying bottles and cans. Others were holding wooden sticks and farm tools and standing on the street corners, laughing and chatting. This city was alive.
"Doctor Han." Seeing Han Xu and the others, they bowed respectfully.
Xuanwu Dao was already in chaos before the Ankang Mountain Rebellion. After the Ankang Mountain Rebellion, the government ignored affairs and soldiers and horses ran around everywhere. Some went to the capital, some disappeared, and some became thieves and killed the people on the spot.
But there were still constraints and expectations in this chaos. Until the news of the emperor's death came, the constraints and expectations disappeared together.
The government was even more deserted, people fled everywhere, and soldiers and horses began to loot. Some soldiers and horses even raised the banner of Ankang Mountain to seize the city, signaling that they would clear the way for Governor An to enter the capital.
At that time, Yingchen encountered a group of soldiers and horses who were making trouble and looting. They clamored to go to the capital to defend the emperor and asked everyone to donate their gold and silver treasures as luggage.
The government couldn't retreat, and the few soldiers and horses in the state didn't know what to do. Seeing that the soldiers and horses were about to enter the city to plunder, Han Xu appeared with only one entourage to stop the rioters, and took out a red ribbon tied with
Official seal.
"I am an admonishing official of the imperial court. To protect the emperor, you do not have to go to the capital. In the whole world, it is the king's land. If you are on the shore of the land, it is the king's ministers. If you are safe here, you will be safe in the world. Protecting the people here is protecting the emperor.
"
"You can't even do these, how can you protect the emperor?"
"If you want to step into Yingchen City today, you must first step through me."
The tall and thin man held up the official seal, and there was only an equally tall, thin and unarmed follower standing next to him. Facing hundreds of soldiers and horses, he was thin and majestic.
Hundreds of soldiers and horses hesitated and finally turned around and retreated.
Han Xu was welcomed into Yingchen City, walked into the government office, urged the government to resume circulation, appease the people, commanded soldiers and horses to defend the city, gather refugees, and contact the surrounding city governments.
Yingchen City regained its momentum before the war. When the real Fan Yangbing stepped into Xuanwu Dao, Yingchen City had the confidence to fight.
He had some confidence, but it was still not enough. Han Xu stood on the city wall and looked into the distance. The sky was bright and there seemed to be smoke curling up in the distance.
That was not smoke, but the place where Fan Yang's army had looted was burning.
"Although the people's hearts are united, it is not easy to repel Fan Yang's soldiers due to insufficient troops and horses, and it is even worse to defend the city for a long time." He said in a low voice.
The admonishing doctor is not just passionate.
Zhongli said: "I am willing to assassinate the leader of the rebels for you."
The ranger was full of enthusiasm. Han Xu looked at him and smiled: "Although it is said that the king should be captured first, a rebel leader is irrelevant. The biggest leader is Ankangshan."
As long as Ankang Mountain is there, the rebels will always have a leader and there will be no chaos.
After Han Xu said this, he saw that the ranger looked a little hesitant. Although he was passionate, he did not lose his mind. He knew that it would be a joke to assassinate Ankang Mountain.
Han Xu didn't expect this ranger to relieve his worries. If he really could, he would have to reconsider this person's origins.
Han Xu comforted and encouraged the young man: "In these troubled times, saving one person is a credit."
The sound of footsteps came from under the city wall, accompanied by joyful shouts: "Doctor Han, Dr. Han."
Han Xu turned around and saw several officials from the government office walking towards him quickly.
"Good news." One of them said without waiting, "Soldiers are coming."
.....
.....
"Fengwei Army?" Han Xu asked.
Returning to the government office, Han Xu looked at the injured scouts and asked for details.
"There are about more than five thousand people," the scout said, pointing on the map, "It's in Mishui Valley."
"Just the Fengwei Army may not be reliable." The prefect of Yingzhou looked worried, "Since the Jiedushi was gone, the Fengwei Army was also in chaos, and many of them have surrendered to the enemy."
There are still many people preparing to surrender to the enemy, and everyone's thoughts are different from before.
"Leading this Fengwei army is Yu Fei." the scout added.
A few officials were fussing.
"Yes or no!"
"Yu Fei didn't surrender to the enemy!"
"That's right or wrong, that's great."
Han Xu didn't quite understand, so he asked who Yu Fei was, and the officials all told him that Yu Fei was a general of the Xuanwu Dao army, who was brave and good at fighting. After the Xuanwu Dao army rebelled, he led his troops to the capital to defend the emperor.
"Then why did he come back?" the prefect asked with a frown, he was timid and cautious, "Your Majesty is no longer here, so I think he has not thought about whether he wants to defend Xuanwu Dao or surrender to the enemy."
The scout said: "After hearing that His Majesty passed away, General Yu came back and wanted to recapture Liangcheng. A few days ago, he had a battle with Fan Yang's army who occupied Liangcheng. General Yu shot He Gan out of one eye and won a great victory. "
Liangcheng, where the Xuanwu Taoist Mansion is located, has been occupied by Fan Yang's army. The leader He Gan is very fierce. When they heard that he was blinded by Yu Fei, all the officials present were in high spirits.
"Sir, let's go quickly and ask for his help." Sima said.
The prefect had little confidence: "Yu Fei has always been arrogant, and now he will not take me seriously."
The prefect was not confident, and other officials could not recommend themselves to Yu Fei, so they were at a loss for words.
Han Xu had almost heard it, nodded and said: "I'll go see him."